Mud flap bracket assembly
a bracket and mud flap technology, applied in the direction of machine supports, other domestic objects, transportation and packaging, etc., can solve the problems of rust, unattractive to truck and trailer owners, and flaking of the paint layer applied to the finished bracket at the welds
Active Publication Date: 2014-11-04
STREETCAREC SLOAN
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- Description
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- Application Information
AI Technical Summary
Benefits of technology
The solution provides a cost-effective, lightweight, and aesthetically pleasing mud flap bracket assembly with improved corrosion resistance and adaptability to various mud flap configurations, while minimizing wind resistance and manufacturing expenses.
Problems solved by technology
Although these mudflap brackets have been very successful and very serviceable, brackets employ several welds that may leave small amounts of debris from the weld.
If the debris is not removed with a cleaning operation, the paint layer applied to the finished bracket may flake off at the welds and show rust at an early stage of the service use.
Although the rust does not materially affect the life of the bracket, it may appear to be unattractive to some truck and trailer owners.
In any case, the weld and subsequent cleaning process and paint is an expensive process.
At least for shortie brackets that are used on tractor trucks, there is no uniform configuration of hole configurations and the flanges must be either custom made for different patterns of have slots to accommodate different hole pattern configuration of the mudflaps.
If addition, the variety of mudflap patterns for shortie mudflaps may requires redundant inventory or custom fabrication of bracket for each different mudflap configuration.
However, stainless steel is very expensive for mudflap brackets and add significant costs to the product.
In addition, the painting process for high carbon steel can also be expensive to produce a quality product.
In addition, the painted surfaces are subject to very corrosive environments deteriorate over the life of the brackets.
Method used
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Embodiment Construction
[0030]Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a mud flap bracket assembly 10 is configured to be mounted to a vehicle frame 12 having a frame surface 14 and to mount a mudflap 18 according to an embodiment of the invention. The frame surface 14 includes apertures 16 passing through the vehicle frame 12 to couple the vehicle frame 12 to the mud flap bracket assembly 10.
[0031]The mud flap bracket assembly 10 includes an elongated bracket cover 40 and a frame bracket assembly 42. The bracket cover 40 is essentially cosmetic and not a structural piece in the mud flap bracket assembly 10 and thus can be made of a variety of materials to suit the market in which the bracket assembly 10 is sold. For example, a variety of different bracket covers 40 can be produced with different finishes, can be made of different materials, for example, of aluminum, steel or molded composite or molded plastic, and can have accessories, such as reflectors mounted to a side thereof, and can have different shapes to acco...
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A mud flap bracket assembly comprises a functional frame bracket assembly and one or more interchangeable bracket covers. The frame bracket assembly has unitary frame bracket that is formed from a sheet metal blank that is configured to form and integral spring mount and integral slots to mount a frame seat. The frame bracket has integral slots that mount mud flap clips that are adjustable within the slots for mounting mud flaps of different hole configurations. The frame bracket assembly is assembled with integral fasteners and without welds.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61 / 593,647, filed Feb. 1, 2012, which is incorporated herein in its entirety.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]This invention relates to a mud flap bracket assembly. In one of its aspects, the invention relates to a mud flap bracket assembly having a frame bracket assembly with an interchangeable bracket cover. In another of its aspects, the invention relates to a mud flap bracket assembly having a spring end mount that is integrated with the frame bracket assembly frame. In another of its aspects, the invention relates to a mud flap bracket assembly that has an aerodynamic body. In another of its aspects, the invention relates to a mud flap bracket assembly that has integrated adjustable mud flap slots. In another of its aspects, the invention relates to a mud flap bracket assembly that has mud flap mount locking tabs. In another of...
Claims
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IPC IPC(8): B62D25/18B62D25/16
CPCB62D25/188B62D25/163
InventorEKLUND, WESLEY K.GERST, TOMROBERTS, GARY
OwnerSTREETCAREC SLOAN